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Founders' vision

It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the K. International School Tokyo website! We hope you find it useful in learning more about our school and the services we provide.

As the founders of KIST, we are often asked why we decided to start an international school. Looking back, the first time it occurred to us was when we heard a young boy from Africa, crying from distress at being teased. It broke our hearts to hear his words:

“Why is the color of my skin different? Why aren’t I Japanese?”

It was from these beginnings that the seeds of thought began to form in our minds.

In the past, enrolling at an international school in Tokyo was for a privileged few. Due to various reasons, children who wanted to attend an international school, couldn’t, and were instead forced to attend regular schools where they were met with painful experiences and teased because of differences associated with their culture, language, race and way of thinking. After coming to this realization, we felt that it was unfair and illogical and so we wanted to do something to help these children. This is why we established K. International School Tokyo.

"Over the years, we have come to the realization that

simply providing a safe environment for students

from various backgrounds is not enough."

Our original vision for the establishment of KIST was to provide a quality, holistic international education for children from diverse backgrounds and abilities to study together in a safe and secure environment without prejudice or injustice. Over the years, however, we have come to the realization that simply providing a safe environment for students from various backgrounds is not enough.

One day, a student from a less-privileged country came to us in tears to express his concerns about his future:

"If my father loses his job in the future, I'll have to support my family. In order to do this, I need to get into a good university in order to get a good job. If I can't get a good job, I'll have to return to my home country. But there are no good job opportunities back home so I won't be able to support my family."

We were deeply moved and shocked by his words and felt that we needed to provide a learning environment where students could develop high level skills and acquire knowledge to enable them to achieve their goals, regardless of the nationality or the financial status of their families. Even students without abundant financial resources can study at top universities by receiving tuition exemptions through scholarships based on high scores. For this reason, we decided to change the direction of the school to focus on academics, and to raise our academic expectations in order to enable students to achieve high scores that open doors to as wide a range of university options as possible. As a result of various reforms and initiatives introduced since April 2011, KIST has been the highest ranking school offering the DP in Japan for several consecutive years.

"We decided to change the direction of the school

to focus on academics, and to raise our academic

expectations in order to enable students

to achieve high scores that open doors

to as wide a range of university options as possible."

Our curriculum, as based on programs developed by the International Baccalaureate, provides a great opportunity for children to inquire about the world in which we live. But it is not for everyone. Being a student at KIST is demanding and requires an effort by the students themselves and an enormous amount of support from their parents. As a private school, we are able to select children who will benefit the most from the education we provide. But this does not mean we only choose students who are gifted. We value students who are academically motivated and have their own goals for the future. We value students who are serious about learning and always strive to do their best. We value students who are caring and respectful and exert a positive influence on their peers. We value students who are active rather than passive learners with a passion to find out more about the world. And we value students who want to make the world a better place. It is tremendously gratifying to see these children grow as they progress through our school.

"We value students who are caring and

respectful and exert a positive

influence on their peers."

As our school population continues to increase, we are excited about the many possibilities that are yet to come. Our dream of creating a place where internationally minded children can grow and develop into altruistic human beings has only just begun.